This weekend I was at the launch of Cora Greenhill’s new book, The Point of Waking, published by Oversteps press. It took place in The Outside Shop cafe, Hathersage, which is in Hope Valley, Derbyshire – one of the most lovely places I’ve been in for ages – and was a fantastic occasion, very well attended, and included music from Clare Turner on mbiri and
gyil, and from Cora’s neighbours  Cathy and Helmut Rheingans who played concertina and an instrument of Helmut’s own invention called a bansitar. Cora had generously asked four other poets to read a poem each, and then we had a great sample of the book.

I read Cora’s first book Deep in Time, after I met her at the Dark Mountain weekend at Wiston Lodge earlier this year, and liked it enormously, so I was very excited to hear that Oversteps had accepted the next one (I said so on the back cover!). I can assure you it was worth the wait. Cora writes a lot about Crete, where she has a house, but also about Derbyshire, about feminist and earth-based spirituality, about love and death and creativity, and about landcapes and travel. I won’t review it as I’m hardly unbiassed, but please do look at her blog The Poetry Pile, where you can see for yourself.